283 Professor Challenger

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's description of the enigmatic professor, with
heretofore unpublished details in bold:"His appearance made me gasp. I was prepared for something
strange, but not for so overpowering a personality as this. It was his
size, which took one's breath away-his size and his imposing presence.
His head was enormous, the largest I have ever seen upon a human
being. I am sure that his top hat, had I ventured to don it, would
have slipped over me entirely and rested on my shoulders. He had the
face and beard, which I associate with an Assyrian bull; the former
florid, the latter so black as almost to have a suspicion of blue,
spade-shaped and rippling down over his chest. The hair was peculiar,
plastered down in front in a long, curving wisp over his massive
forehead. The eyes were blue-grey under great black tufts, very clear,
very critical, and very masterful. A huge spread of shoulders and a
chest like a barrel were the other parts of him which appeared above
the table, save for two enormous hands covered with long black hair.
This and a bellowing, roaring, rumbling voice made up my first
impression of the notorious Professor Challenger. Also, he smelled like stew and wouldn't shut up about lint."